Henry Poole & Cos founder was Shropshire lad James

Poole, who began his professional life in London in 1806

as a linen draper. With the help of his wife Mary, James
earned his stripes as a tailor by stitching military tunics
during the Napoleonic wars. By the time of Waterloo
Poole had become Londons pre-eminent military tailor.
In 1846 Jamess son Henry inherited the family business.
Capitalising on his undeniable charisma and passion
for the aristocratic world of equestrian and eld sports,
Henry Poole became what today would be called a
celebrity tailor.
In an extraordinary example of Victorian social mobility,
Henry would go on not only to serve the future Emperor
Napoleon III but also to shape his future. Pooles friend
and stellar customer conferred the rst of the rms royal
warrants in 1858. Napoleon IIIs reign was glittering but
brief; Queen Victoria proved to be a more reliable and
prestigious customer.
The Queens royal warrant as Court Tailor (and later
Livery Tailor) to the sovereign was conferred in 1869 and
still endures to this day. However it was to Victorias son
King Edward VII that Henry Poole owed his reputation
as a leader of fashion, and his Mayfair premises became
a social hub for the swells who surrounded Prince
Bertie. With an interior more suited to Whites Club or
Marlborough House, Old Pooleys was the only place
for gentlemen of quality to be seen partaking of the great
mans claret and cigars at 3:30pm.
THE HENRY POOLE & CO
STORY
Henry became societys tailor
image right:
Portrait of Henry Poole
HENRY POOLE & CO
FOUNDER OF SAVILE ROW
Arguably the most famous Savile Row
tailor is Henry Poole & Co
Savile Row, the golden mile of bespoke tailors at the heart
of Mayfair, is the last street in London dedicated largely
to one exclusive craft: the denitive expression of male
elegance rendered in cloth. For over 150 years bespoke
tailoring has dominated the street affectionately known
as The Row and continues to do so in the 21st century.
No matter how many times pretenders threaten the
exclusivity and excellence of Savile Row bespoke, the
great houses endure and those who truly belong on the
Row remain there. Arguably the most famous Savile Row
tailor is Henry Poole & Co, as the rst tailor in Savile
Row and hence the founder.
Henry Poole & Co has resisted all calls to sell ready-
to-wear or made-to-measure suits from its Savile Row
agship. A Henry Poole & Co suit is pure bespoke:
measured, cut, tted, sewn and nished entirely by
hand in a process that involves three ttings and over
60 hours of man and increasingly woman power. Every
suit is made in the workshops below No 15 and 16 Savile
Row whether it be a livery for Buckingham Palace or
The Royal Mews, a Churchill pinstripe three-piece
destined for the boardroom or a tailcoat cut for a
Mansion House banquet.
image right:
Henry Poole & Co
main entrance, Savile Row,
circa 1890
THE STORY OF THE
TUXEDO
Henry Poole & Co dinner jacket became
known as a Tuxedo in America
THE HISTORY
In 1865, the Prince of Wales and future King Edward
VII known to his family and intimates as Bertie asked
his tailor and friend Henry Poole to cut a short celestial
blue evening coat to be worn at informal dinners at
Sandringham. No similar garment has been detected in
the Henry Poole & Co ledgers dating back to 1846. This
evening coat was the blueprint for what we now know in
England as the dinner jacket.
THE TUXEDO CLUB
The Americans christened the British DJ a Tuxedo. The
story from the Tuxedo Park Club in New York suggests
that that a James Brown Potter met the Prince of Wales
in 1886. The Prince had a notorious wandering eye and
it fell upon Browns devastatingly gorgeous wife Cora.
This frisson of royal lust led to an invitation to dine and
sleep at Sandringham. Potter, not knowing the form for a
royal informal evening, asked his tailor Henry Poole what
he should wear. Poole answered with no little condence
that a short celestial blue evening coat was appropriate.
The story goes that Potter ordered the short evening
coat from Pooles and returned to New York introducing
the dinner jacket to the Tuxedo Club and New Yorks
fashionable society scene in the late 1880s. Due to
damage and loss, any record of an American James
Potter has disappeared from Henry Pooles historic
ledgers. However, the founding fathers of the Tuxedo
Club Messers William Waldorf Astor, Robert Goelet,
Ogden Mills and Pierre Lorillard are all well documented
as customers in the 1860s when Bertie rst ordered his
prototype dinner jacket. Thus it is more than likely that
these social peacocks copied the Prince of Wales and
introduced the dinner jacket to New York society (and
subsequently the Tuxedo Club) a full twenty years before
the apocryphal Potter incident.
James Sherwood, Henry Poole Archivist, Author and Journalist
image right:
The classic
Henry Poole & Co
three piece
dinner suit (Tuxedo)
CELEBRATED
CUSTOMERS
Pooles is unique on Savile Row for
preserving its customer ledgers from 1846
By 1900 Henry Poole & Co was the largest bespoke tailor
in the world employing 300 tailors and cutters. Pooles is
unique on Savile Row for preserving its customer ledgers
from 1846 to the present day and it was once remarked
Go through the pages of the Almanack de Gotha from
1850 to the end of civilization in 1914 and we could
match page for page from our old ledgers. European
Royals were only the tip of the iceberg. Famous
customers include Charles Dickens, Dr Livingstone, Tsar
Alexander II of Russia, Prince von Bismarck, Buffalo Bill,
Sir Winston Churchill, Charles de Gaulle, J.P. Morgan,
William Randolph Hearst, Emperor Haile Selassie of
Ethiopia and Emperor Hirohito of Japan. Henry Poole
& Cos reputation remained undimmed as Old Pooleys
cousin Samuel Cundey took over in 1876. The rm was
briey forced from Savile Row with the tragic demolition
of the original Henry Poole & Co townhouse in 1961 but
returned thanks to Samuel Cundeys great grandson and
current Chairman Angus.
image right:
Celebrated client, Sir Winston
Churchill, circa 1936
Image permission by courtesy of
Illustrated London News/Mary Evans
Picture Library
AN APPOINTMENT AT
POOLES
Bespoke customers expect service as
immaculate as their suits
Savile Row is not old fashioned or nostalgic. It merely
recognises that bespoke clients expect service as
immaculate as their suits. The Henry Poole & Co
showroom walls are lined with over 40 of the houses
prestigious international Royal Warrants; a gentle
reminder to customers in the worlds of statesmanship,
nance, law and the media that they are walking in
the footsteps of giants. One of the enduring myths
surrounding Savile Row is that the historic tailoring
houses are intimidating or somehow aloof. However,
Henry Poole & Co prides itself on giving a warm
welcome to all its customers. Cutters on the Row may
be as highly prized as surgeons but it is the customers
requirement that always takes precedence. The beauty of
bespoke tailoring is that everything is possible and any
request can be met. Customers do, however, tend to heed
the expert advice their tailor is trained for a lifetime to
proffer.
image right:
15 Savile Row Entrance
THE BIOGRAPHY OF A
HENRY POOLE & CO SUIT
In tailoring terms, a bespoke garment means
one designed from a blank canvas
In tailoring terms, a bespoke garment means one
designed from a blank canvas, the client adding his
own individual choices of styling to those of the cutter.
The cutter will work with the clients waistcoat maker,
coat maker and trouser maker adjusting the pattern at the
various stages of making thus creating the perfect paper
pattern.
image right:
Second tting single
breasted jacket
BESPOKE PROCESS
The client selects the cloth from our range of
over 6000 luxurious samples
1) PATTERN CUTTING
The client, with the help of the cutter, selects the cloth
for his suit from our range of over 6000 luxurious
samples. After choosing the fabric, the particular style
is discussed with the cutter who will then take the
clients measurements. A unique paper pattern is cut
incorporating his measurements and choice of style.
2) CLOTH CUTTING
The paper pattern is laid out on the cloth and chalked
around. The cloth is then cut out by hand, leaving extra
cloth at certain seams (inlays) to allow for the suit to be
altered at a later date if the clients weight changes.
3) TRIMMING
Particular materials are then added to the suit i.e. natural
wool canvasses and linen (trimmings). These are used in
the construction of the garment to give the suit its classic
Henry Poole & Co silhouette.
image right:
Individual client patterns
being drafted
The cutter then starts to alter the suit
to the clients posture
4) PUTTING TOGETHER
The garment is then assigned to a particular highly
skilled tailor where it is canvassed by hand and readied
for the rst tting. The selected tailor will then stay with
the client during their time as a customer at Henry Poole
& Co thus giving consistency to the look and feel of all
the clients future garments.
5) FIRST FITTING - BASTE
During the rst tting, the garment is tted by the highly
trained cutter, who then starts to alter the suit to the
clients posture.
6) MARKING
After the rst tting the garment is completely taken
apart, re-cut and given back to the tailor to be prepared
for the next tting.
image right:
Single length cutting
Each suit is numbered and logged with
Henry Poole & Co
7) SECOND FITTING
At the next tting, previous alterations and amendments
are rened, giving the suit its exceptional t and comfort.
The suit is checked over for break over shoe, seat of
trouser and drape.
8) BUTTON HOLE
After the nal alterations have been made, a tailoress
will hand make the buttonholes and hand nish the suit
inside and out using ne hand silks, thus giving the suit
pure natural bres and a lasting nish.
9) FINAL PIECE
The Henry Poole & Co suit is then ready for the nal
tting. Advice is given to the customer on how to best
care for the suit and maintain shape, such as pressing
and cleaning. Each suit is numbered and logged, enabling
us to source materials to repair any damage that might
occur during daily use.
image right:
Hand stitched button holes
A SEVENTH GENERATION
TAKES POOLE INTO THE
21ST CENTURY
Arguably the most famous Savile Row tailor
is Henry Poole & Co
Henry Poole & Co has occupied its current HQ at No 15
Savile Row since 1982. The building previously housed
the celebrated Savile Club whose members included
Prime Minister Arthur Balfour, Robert Louis Stevenson
and Sir Henry Irving. The rm is still guided by the
Cundey family. Samuel Cundey took over the company
after the death of Henry Poole in 1876. Samuel was
succeeded by his son Howard who founded the tailoring
trades charity (1891), established a pay structure for
sewing tailors which still survives and opened branches
of Pooles in Berlin, Paris and Vienna. Samuel H Cundey
contended with the difcult times during the war years
and the obligatory stay of the company in nearby Cork
Street. Angus Cundey introduced trunk shows in Europe
and in 1994 Simon Cundey did likewise across the
United States of America.
image right:
Simon Cundey and
Angus Cundey
TRADITIONAL METHODS
MODERN APPROACH
A 21st century bespoke suit is still constructed
for a lifespan that will justify the cost
In 2006 Henry Poole & Co celebrated over two centuries
in business with a major ret of the Savile Row agship.
In recognition that the ever evolving craft of bespoke
tailoring is what draws future generations to Savile Row,
the cutting boards at the back of the shop were moved
to a more prominent position. Napoleon IIIs imperial
eagle and royal warrant watch over the new generation
of cutters reminding all who visit Henry Poole & Co that
a heritage as grand is something to take great pride in.
Just as Henry Poole was a great innovator and arbiter
of male elegance in his time, so too the contemporary
cutters accommodate the requirements of the modern
man. A 21st century bespoke suit is still constructed for a
lifespan that will justify the cost; but it must by necessity
of modern life be built for elegance and increased
comfort. While acknowledging fashion a bespoke suit
must never be mastered by superuous styling. The great
beauty of a bespoke suit is that it complements a mans
life just as it does his physique.
As for the future, Henry Poole & Co pays particular
attention to training young people as apprentice coat
makers, trouser makers and waistcoat makers in our
workrooms.
In the cutting room, we train our junior cutters to the
highest standards, thereby ensuring the quality of Henry
Poole & Co bespoke tailoring now and far into the future.
image right:
A small sample of Pooles
ledger books, detailing client
orders, which started in 1846
A TRULY BRITISH
BUSINESS
Each mill is steeped in history with the expertise
and knowledge to produce the very best quality
The majority of fabrics used in the construction of a
Henry Poole & Co bespoke suit are the nest of British
woollen cloths which we consider to be the best in the
world. These include Hudderseld worsteds, mohair
worsteds for summer and West of England annels,
cashmeres and tweeds from the lowlands of Scotland,
Harris and Shetland tweeds from the Islands. Each mill
is steeped in history with the expertise and knowledge
to produce the very best quality cloths. It is not without
irony that a mere twenty years ago critics were calling
Savile Row old fashioned. Still today, a Savile Row suit
is made entirely on one street from cloth woven in the
British Isles and with natural canvassing and interlinings
a truly British business.
image right:
Fine examples of
classic British cloth
AN INTERNATIONAL
OUTLOOK
In 1964 Henry Poole & Co was the rst
Savile Row tailor to enter the Japanese market
Henry Poole & Co has never been an insular rm. In
1921 Henry Pooles cutters met the Crown Prince of
Japan (the future Emperor Hirohito) in Gibraltar en route
to the UK for an ofcial visit, cabled his measurements
back to Savile Row where full white tie and tails were
completed for the Crown Prince to wear in attendance
on Edward, Prince of Wales at Buckingham Palace.
In 1964 Henry Poole & Co was the rst Savile Row tailor
to enter the Japanese market. Poole designed a complete
range of premium made to measure and ready to wear
garments for department stores across Japan. More
recently, Henry Poole & Co have formed a partnership
with the Chikuma Company of Osaka and Kobe. In 2006
two Henry Poole & Co shops were opened in Beijing and
Hangjou, China, offering a made to measure service for
the emerging market.
image right:
Client canvas: to be
prepared for rst tting
HM King Umberto I of Italy 1879
HRH The Crown Prince of Austria 1878
HM The King of Hellenes 1877
HIM Tsar Alexander II of Russia 1875
HIM The Emperor Pedro II of Brazil 1874
HRH Crown Prince Alexander of Russia 1874
HRH Prince Louis of Hesse 1871
HM King Amadeus I of Spain 1871
HRH Prince Oscar of Sweden & Norway 1871
The Khedive of Egypt 1870
HRH Prince Christian of SchleswigHolstein 1870
HRH The Prince of Teck 1870
HRH The Crown Prince of Denmark 1869
HM The King of the Belgians 1869
HM Queen Victoria 1869
HRH The Crown Prince of Prussia 1868
HRH The Duke of Edinburgh 1868
HRH The Prince of Wales 1863
HIM The Emperor Napoleon III 1858
HM Queen Elizabeth II 1976
HIM Emperor Haile Selassie 1959
HM King George VI 1940
HM The King of the Bulgarians 1936
HM King George V 1928
The Imperial Household of Japan 1923
HRH The Prince of Wales 1922
HM Queen Alexandra 1911
The Khedive of Egypt 1910
HIM The Shah of Persia 1906
HH The Maharajah Gaekwar of Baroda 1905
HRH Prince Albrecht of Prussia 1903
HM King Edward VII 1902
HM The King of Denmark 1893
HIM The Shah of Persia *
HRH Prince Emanuel of Savoie 1892
HG The Duke of Aosta 1892
HG Friedrich, Grossherzog of Baden 1891
HG The Duke of Genoa 1891
HIM Tsar Alexander III of Russia 1881
HIM Emperor Wilhelm I of Germany *
WARRANTS OF
APPOINTMENT
* Pooles records show that these Warrants were issued,
but not the dates of issue.
AUSTRIA:
Vienna
FRANCE:
Paris
GERMANY:
Dusseldorf, Frankfurt
JAPAN:
Tokyo
LUXEMBOURG:
Luxembourg
SWITZERLAND:
Zurich, Geneva
USA
Palm Beach, Pebble Beach, New York, Chicago,
Boston, Washington DC, Los Angeles, San Francisco,
Atlanta, New Orleans
To arrange your personal consultation, please contact us
at the following;
Henry Poole & Co
15 Savile Row
London
W1S 3PJ
FITTINGS UNDERTAKEN
INTERNATIONALLY IN THE
FOLLOWING CITIES
YOUR
PERSONAL
CONSULTATION
Phone: +44 (0)20 7734 5985
Fax: +44 (0)20 7287 2161
Email: ofce@henrypoole.com
Web: www.henrypoole.com